Like The Old Dick (1981), The Big Enchilada expresses its theme through the philosophy of its protagonist. Morse has commented that the major themes of the novel might well be sex, violence, and food, but the major appeal of Sam Hunter is that he does what most of us would like to do if only we dared. Hunter has an extremely functional view of human nature. For Hunter, people are either "assholes" or decent, and the cornerstone of his philosophy is "never to let the assholes get away with it."

Although the sexual and violent episodes of the novel are frequent, they are not gratuitous. Hunter directs his antagonism exclusively toward those whose actions remove them from the community of decent people. The reader finds Hunter admirable in his unswerving commitment to his sense of ethics and likable in his humorous, if cynical, way of telling his...